Anaconda Explosion Destroys Home, Embeds Glass in Nearby Vehicles

A home explosion in Anaconda lit up emergency lines after waking up a good portion of the city on Wednesday night, March 18. The explosion was so fierce it bowed the walls of nearby homes, and embedded shards of glass in the sides of vehicles.

"We received a call around 11:17 p.m. last night, of an explosion on 309 W. Third in Anaconda," said Anaconda Police Chief Tim Barkell. "We were getting flooded with calls. We had the whole fire department lot out there, the police department, the Red Cross, and, of course, Northwestern Energy."

Luckily, the house was empty and no pets or people were injured in the blast, but people in the nearby area had to be removed from their homes because of the danger.

"It completely destroyed the house," Barkell said. "There were a few houses and vehicles [that were impacted]. The house next door... 307, it bowed one of the walls in and broke a lot of windows. Actually it broke a lot of windows around the neighborhood of both houses and vehicles. There is glass embedded into vehicles that were parked near there."

At 9:00 a.m., the following morning, a fire marshal determined that the explosion was caused by a build-up of natural gas. At this point, it is unclear if the homeowner or the utility company is at fault for the blast.